Fresh water for human consumption and use has for decades been abundantly available in this and other countries generally through public utilities. As a result of such abundance, society has developed highly wasteful practices with respect to use of fresh water. A typical shower, for example can consume 60 to 80 gallons of fresh water which is usually simply discarded into the sewage system even though the water, which contains mostly only soap scum, is relatively uncontaminated. Such water is defined as gray water. Further examples of waste include discarding gray water from bathtubs (about 36 gallons per use), dishwashers (20-30 gallons per use) and washing machines 30-60 gallons per use), all of which gray water is relatively clean compared to, for example, raw sewage.
Such wasteful practices with respect to water usage in combination with the general growth and urbanization of modern populations is now beginning to result in water shortages in many areas that inevitably could grow into a nationwide water shortage crisis. Some more severely affected states of the United States have even enacted water conservation legislation to restrict use of fresh water by, for example, limiting the size of toilet reservoir tanks to limit water usage for flushing toilets.
At least one government study indicates that the U.S. population is now using fresh water at a rate greater than that at which the ground water table is being replenished by rainfall. Such conditions obviously cannot continue indefinitely.
Solutions to the problems of fresh water depletion have been suggested and implemented in the past with limited success. It has been suggested, for example, to capture gray water from showers, basins and the like and divert it for irrigation purposes such as the watering of lawns. While such reuse conserves some water, it is not entirely satisfactory because of the erratic and seasonal nature of irrigation demands. As mentioned above, another attempt to address the problem has included legislation to limit usage as, for example, by limiting the size of toilet reservoirs to limit water usage in flushing toilets. Such legislation is generally inadequate, however, to control personal usages, such as limiting the number of flushes per individual use and, in addition, represents governmental intervention which is unpopular with many people. Further, the reduction of toilet reservoir size tends to reduce the flushing efficiency of the toilet and can result in a shortage of fluid inhibiting the flow in the contiguous private system and in adjoining public sewage systems.
Thus, an increasingly urgent and as yet unaddressed need exists for a method and apparatus for significantly, consistently and reliably reducing residential and commercial use of fresh water without intrusion and without requiring sacrifice on the part of water users. It is to the provision of such a method and apparatus that the present invention is primarily directed.